November 2, 2009

The twins got up and ate breakfast together before going to school. They spend most of their time together throughout the day. They both had the same classes so they did all their homework together after school and they had most of the same friends so they hung out at lunch. The only time they had to themselves was when they worked on their hobbies. Christy enjoyed painting and chess with her father and Isabella loved working on her book. She was now getting paid for her work on the non-fiction book.

Kevin came home that morning with a surprise for the family. Over the night, he got promoted to world renowned surgeon. That was a goal of his since the kids were born. Dr.’s make a fair amount of money and he wanted to be able to support his family and build a nice home for them to grow up in. Now that he had been promoted to the top, he started thinking of what he wanted to do with his retirement.

Later that night, Alex took his father into the bathroom to let him know about what Mark had been up to at night.

Apparently, Mark had been hanging out with a friend from school. Her name was Madison and they had been spending a lot of time together outside of school as well.

Alex wasn’t sure why Mark wanted to keep her a secret but they used to meet outside the house in the middle of the night.

He would stay out there for a few hours and when he came in, he always passed Alex and his easel before heading to bed. Alex found that rather suspicious and after several weeks of this, he thought he should tell his father.

Kevin held onto that knowledge but seeing how the next day was Mark’s birthday; there was no need to confront him about it and punish him if he would be an adult and be old enough to make his own decisions.

October 29, 2009

Alex’s first year out of high school went really well for him. He got to know his mom’s co-worker a little bit better because she kept coming over to work on projects after business hours. Soon, Alex and Dakota Whitfield became good friends and started dating.

After a few months, Alex thought it best he talk to his parents about their relationship. It’s not that it was a secret, but he didn’t think his family knew how serious he felt about Dakota. One evening after work, Alex took them aside and tried to find out what they thought about Dakota and if they liked her. Kevin felt that she was a very nice young lady. And Suzanna thought that the two made a very nice couple and told her son that she should not let that one go. Alex told his mother he had no intentions of doing that, and was actually thinking of asking her to join the family. Suzanna was very excited and could hardly contain herself. He had the blessings of his family and now started thinking about the ring.

Alex was painting masterpieces and figured that if he painted one more painting, he could pay for his engagement ring by the end of the week.

Once back from the store, he started thinking about all the romantic ways he could propose to her. He could take her to the waterfall to the west of town. Or he could take her to the park and hid the ring in a picnic basket. He also thought about taking her to the beach at sunset and writing the question in the sand. He contemplated all these options and called Dakota to come over.

Alex became really nervous around her once she arrived. He tried to ask her to accompany him to the trail head so they could hike out to the waterfall but he didn’t have the words. He didn’t know what to say to her so he just kissed her first.

That settled the butterflies in his stomach a bit and then he was able to talk to her.

He started telling her about how he was ready to move on with his life. He was a grown man now and didn’t need to stay living under his parents’ roof. He was ready to make it on his own. Now he didn’t have a job, but he was painting masterpieces that were selling for over 1,500 simoleons each.

Instead of taking her outside like he planned, he just blurted it out.

“Dakota, will you marry me?”

She didn’t say anything at first so he got down on his knee and took out the ring to show he was serious.

She was almost as excited as Suzanna had been when she first heard about his intentions and she started jumping up and down.

Of course she said yes. And they told the family and had a large dinner to celebrate.

Later that night, Isabella thought she’d give the official welcome to the family to Dakota. She let her know that there were four Doyle children and that if she even thought about hurting her big brother, there would be three people right there ready to bring the hurt on! They would kick her behind all the way back to Sim City!

Isabella might have gone a little bit over-board threatening Dakota, but in the end, she gave her a hug and wished her happiness with her brother and they became friends.

Bonus: First off, I forgot to write down the name of the girls that Alex and Mark are dating, so I made them up. They aren’t main characters so I figure they don’t really matter anyway. Maybe later I’ll go back and find the names and fix my story.

October 22, 2009

Suzanna was glad that all of her children were in school. She hadn’t worked on her dream of becoming a CEO with all the maternity leave and raising her kids, but now that they were all off at school during the day, she was able to focus on work and keep moving up the corporate ladder.

Several years later, Alex was graduating from high school just as the twins were going to start. In honor of this change, Suzanna thought she’d throw a party to welcome her children into their next stage of life, not quite a birthday because they were born at different times of the year, but a graduation party of sorts. She didn’t grow up celebrating the graduation of middle school but thought that throwing a party would be a good chance to catch up with her co-workers.

After mingling with her co-workers, she told Alex it was time to blow out the candles and make a wish for his adult life. He blew out the candles and held onto that wish to max out his painting skills and his guitar skills.

Suzanna watched her girls talk to the guests and she realized they were nearly all grown up. They were definitely not children anymore. As her guests started to leave and thanked her for the party, she started cleaning the house. While doing dishes, Suzanna thought to herself that she had never spent some girl time with her daughters and decided to take them out shopping for new clothes the next day. First stop was the salon where the girls got new hair cuts and make up.

Christy got a shorter cut and blue make-up that her mom said was too much. Christy insisted that when she wasn’t standing in her face, her mother would see that it wasn’t so bad from a few feet away. This was the first time Suzanna let the girls express themselves in their clothing and hair so she let it slide this once.

Suzanna was very happy with Isabella’s choice to keep her long hair. The straightened it and styled it, but she still had a cut similar to her mother. Her make-up also looked better from a few feet away but she convinced Isabella to wipe some of it off once they got home.

Next stop was the mall for clothing. Christy picked out a top, shirt, and shoes. The top and skirt were custom fitted for her and she got to help pick the colors. Her favorite color is gray so she went with a blue and gray theme for her outfit.

Isabella got a custom fitted dress and tennis shoes that matched.

Once the girls got home, Christy proceeded to check the faucet before washing her hands three times.

Now that Alex was an adult, he started thinking about what he wanted to do with his life. He would love to be an artist and raise a family but had no prospects for a wife. He remembered seeing a cute nice young woman at his party. She was a co-worker that just got hired on to help while his mom was on maternity leave. He called her over to see if she wanted to hang out.

Alex spent several hours talking to his new friend and he started to fancy her. Before he had a chance to share his feelings, she left suddenly without saying a word to him.

When Suzanna came home the next day, her face was beaming. After her hard upbringing, the sudden move to the city, the sleeping on park benches, and any other hardship she had face, she had finally made it. She got promoted to CEO. Suzanna finally reached her life time goal and now it was time to start thinking about her children’s future instead of focusing all her energies on work.

Bonus: Sorry, I don’t have any photos but I do want to give you a side note. Christy is no longer walking around in her undies. I gave her a full length robe to make up for her peep show when she was 7. And I now found that you don’t have to pay for clothes, just a dresser so I’m really excited about clothes for my Sims now.

October 21, 2009

As the girls got older, they got more responsibility around the house. Christy almost always wished to clean the bed and Isabella cleaned up her toys without being told.

With her children doing chores around the house, it freed up time for her to play her guitar. She hadn’t been playing it since she had her children. With work and raising kids, she had a full plate. Now that she had two teenagers and two in elementary school, she had more time on her hands to focus on work and guitar.

Kevin needed to focus on his logic skills for work and Mark loved playing chess so they played together. When they played, it was as if the world stopped turning. They forgot to go to work, go to school, eat, sleep, and even getting up for the bathroom was too time consuming. So, Susanna kept them on a schedule and wouldn’t let them play late into the night anymore.

Alex was interested in fixing things around the house now that he was older. He even brought the old computer down from the attic to work on. It had been Kevin’s from before they were married. It hadn’t worked in years so Alex thought he would work on it and then the girls could have it in their room to help with homework.

Suzanna was an elder now, and she realized that her days are numbered. She wanted to help bring the family closer in her final years, so she started cooking breakfast in the morning and they ate as a family; those who were up in time anyway.

With a computer in her room, Isabella found that she had a talent and a passion for writing. She hadn’t started writing a book yet, but she was working on perfecting her writing skills and deciding what kind of book she would like to write.

As Christy grew older, she became more neurotic. When in the bathroom, she washed her hands twice after using the toilet. She hadn’t actually checked the stove yet, but she thought about it.

Bonus: Christy in her pjs. Where are her pants?!? I built my sim parents and got to choose what they wore, but the kids I haven’t touched. I didn’t want to spend money on clothes just yet so they were all going to wear what they were going to wear until the girls became old enough to choose an heir and then I would work on hair and make-up. But panties for pjs? No…no no…no..you’re 6!

October 13, 2009

Suzanna went to the hospital late one night and prepared for her 3rd child. She did not however, prepare for her 4th child. She came home with twin girls.

Meet Isabella and Christy Doyle.

It didn’t take long for the girls to grow into toddlers. Even though Kevin had red hair and Suzanna had brown, Christy grew up with blonde hair. Her other three siblings have brown hair like their mother.

Shortly after the girls became toddlers, Mark grew out of diapers and Alex grew into a teenager. The boys got their own room in the corner of the house and what little money they had that was going to go towards renovating the house instead went to buying two sets of everything for the twins and expanding the house so there was enough room for 6 people in the house. There wasn’t even money spend on a cake for Alex when he became a teen.

With Suzanna’s maternity leave over, Alex step up and started helping out with the twins. Mark liked spending time alone and playing chess because it got him away from screaming babies.

Mark did help out around the house when there were messes. He couldn’t stand being around mess and he wanted to help out his dad when things broke. It was a very common occurrence to have someone working on the plumbing and to see Mark mopping up behind them.

Kevin always found time for his girls. He was very busy becoming a great doctor and was climbing the ladder quickly. He was a hard worker and the long hours didn’t bother him except that he wasn’t around to see his girls grow up. At least he was able to help with Isabella’s first steps.

Alex still had a passion for painting when he grew older. Suzanna was going to hire an artist to paint her portrait but decided she would let Alex try. The first one didn’t turn out too well so he painted a second one hoping his skills would improve enough to get a decent photo before she turned into an elder.

Bonus photos:

Isabella was playing with the xylophone and decided to shove the stick in her eye.

October 12, 2009

The new Mr. and Mrs. Doyle decided that it was more important to put any money they had into the house and raising their new family so they decided not to go on a honeymoon. After putting Alex to bed they had a little private honeymoon of their own to celebrate their new marriage.

Nine months after they were married, Suzanna made another trip to the hospital and came home with her second child, another son, Mark Doyle. Alex was growing so fast, it wasn’t long until he started taking his first steps.

Several years passed and their little family grew. Mark grew into a toddler and Alex was now a child. I have heard stories about my great great granduncles. Alex was on his way to being a child prodigy and Mark was always crying.

Alex love painting when he was a child. Suzanna encouraged it because she wanted portraits of the family hanging in the house. Her old family hadn’t been close but she wanted that to change. She found the love of her life in Kevin. He was gentle and understanding with her past and cared for her in a way that no man had ever done before. She decided that she wanted to start a new tradition of having a close family. She also decided that she wanted a bigger house that was worthy of passing down through the generations.

Suzanna was a great mother. She was always hands-on. She loved teaching her sons to walk, talk, and use the potty. She also encouraged them to do things like play music with their xylophone.

When they built their house, they scrimped on quality so they could make their money stretch. They had only had their things for a few years before they started breaking. They were both working and Suzanna’s maternity leave was ending now so they decided to use any money they made now towards renovations. They celebrated their Anniversary by going out for a nice dinner and doing what all married couples do on their anniversary. The next morning, Suzanna realized that their plans for house renovations would have to be put on hold when she felt a familiar sickness in her stomach.

For any of those who are wondering, here is a small shot of my house now. There is a bathroom to the right and a bedroom with a double and a single bed to the left. I’m not much of a house designer so I don’t usually focus on designing something aesthetically pleasing but it’s functional. If I have to use this house for 10 generations, I’ll probably work on making this house look nicer.

(I have officially figured out how to influence the sex of the babies now. I have that lovely tree in the front yard that keeps giving me apples to eat. They are quick and easy and filling so I like giving them to my Sims. Hah, they also make you have a boy! Having a matriarchy legacy makes it important to have girls and well, boys don’t help my story progress one bit! Ok, glad I got that all figured out.)